


The Future of Magic

by Blackcat8539



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alice somehow ends up Minister?, Fix all the sad deaths that broke my heart, Harry is a cute baby, Hermione gets adopted, Lily has to fix everything, Ministry is a mess, The Statute of Secrecy has Fallen, Who's idea was this tagging system?, fix Remus' death, fix Sirius' death, pairings undetermined, seriously
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-29
Updated: 2019-03-11
Packaged: 2019-05-15 09:36:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 13,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14788005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blackcat8539/pseuds/Blackcat8539
Summary: The Statute of Secrecy has fallen. Dumbledore and Voldemort are dead. Lily Potter is left with a broken world, a grief-stricken heart and a little boy that needs his mother. It's time to show the world, once again, why she is called the smartest witch of her age. Pairings unknown at this time, AU, slightly OOC cause otherwise none of this would be a thing.





	1. Chapter 1

 

Lily sat at her husband’s desk, even now she still thought of it that way. He had passed in the final battle of the war, three months ago, and yet it was still James’ desk, James’ office. James’ house.

  
Nevertheless, she needed a place to work so here she was. Lily sighed as the stack of papers in her in-tray magically grew again. The tray was charmed to transport the paperwork from her desk at the office to here. It allowed her more time to spend with Harry, but it also meant that she couldn’t avoid it. Dragging the wizarding world back to its feet was not an easy task but it was something Lily knew they needed to do; especially now that the Statue of Secrecy was broken.

  
After reading half of a particularly long report from the Goblins Lily stood and walked over to where Harry was sitting inside his play-pen. It was enchanted so that he couldn’t climb out of it and therefore allowed Lily to work mostly uninterrupted.

  
“Harry,” Lily said, reaching out to him as he looked up at her arrival. It was safe to say that the child was happy to see his mother and his uncomplicated joy lifted the weight in Lily’s heart.

  
“I think it’s time we both got some sunshine,” Lily said, picking him up and carrying him from the room. As soon as they left the study Lily heard the locks magically click into place and knew that no one would be able to enter the room, by any means, until a Potter came back to it.  
Walking through Potter Manor Lily headed out into the back gardens and put Harry down in the, again enchanted, sandpit. He was nearly 14 months now and was already becoming a very active little boy.

  
Lily looked up and studied the same sight that had greeted her since the war had ended. Unlike the years past the Potter wards were now constantly visible, combating the radiation that permanently surrounded the area. It’s wasn’t just one layer either, after the bombs had fallen Lily had accessed the property’s ward stone and added another two layers of wards, mostly to deal with radiation damage and add a few muggle repealing charms. Normally only James, or now Harry, would have been able to do that but since James’ death the family magic seemed to recognize Lily as a caretaker. That status allowed her to do things that normally only a blood relative would be able to.

  
Looking away from the beautiful, and yet terrifying, sight she sat down next to Harry in the sand and started to help him build things, instead of just running his hands through it.

  
After about 20 minutes of magically building sand castles, and Harry happily destroying them, their elf, Ditsy, appeared.  
“Ditsy is sorry to interrupt Lady Lily and young Master Harry but Mrs. Alice Bottoms is in the fireplace.”  
Lily smiled at the elf, and her continual ability to misremember names, but stood, cleaning the sand from Harry and herself with a flick of her wand before helping Harry toddle over to the elf.

  
“Thank you Ditsy, would you mind putting Harry down for his nap now?” Lily asked.  
Ditsy beamed up at her master, “of course! Ditsy is honored to be helping the young Master. Ditsy will make sure he goes straight to sleep.”  
After handing Harry to the elf Lily quickly rushed through the house to the study, finding Alice’s head waiting patiently in her fire-place.  
“Sorry to bother you, Lily…”

  
“It’s fine Alice, don’t worry about it. I always have time for you,” Lily said, smiling at her friend.  
Alice grimaced, “thanks Lils, but sadly it’s not my business that we need to discuss. We’ve had another incident, we need you down at the Ministry.”  
Lily swore, “where?”

  
Alice looked physically pained, “it’s not what you think. Look, I-I think it’s better I tell you in person. Can you come through?”  
Lily nodded and waited until Alice’s head disappeared. Calling for Ditsy she quickly instructed the elf to take care of Harry until she returned. Naturally, Ditsy was thrilled.

  
Quickly Lily threw a small handful of floo powder and stepped through the fireplace, ending up in the minister’s office.  
She was immediately enveloped in a firm hug.

  
“Alice! Are you okay?” Lily asked, immediately more concerned that she had been five minutes ago. Her friend nodded and pulled back, taking a deep breath before walking over to a crib, hastily set up, in the corner of the room.

  
“There was an incident in the muggle world. You know we’ve been monitoring muggle-borns since you gave us that list. Most are taken by their government and we haven’t seen them since but this morning, there was an attack that we managed to reach before their government interceded.”

Lily sucked in a breath, that was immense. For the last two months since Lily had created the magically updating list on Muggle-borns, they hadn’t been able to reach any of them quickly enough to stop the muggle government from grabbing them. They had no knowledge of where they went or what was done to them but they hadn’t been seen by the magical community since. The thing that worried them all the most was the state the houses were left in. Each one showed signs of a forceful removal.

“What happened?” she asked, eyes focusing on the crib.

  
Alice sighed heavily, “when the Aurors arrived the parents were arguing with some sort of officials, they bore the government symbol. They stayed hidden until things escalated. The muggle agents tried to forcibly remove the child from the parent’s care. The Aurors moved in but before they could apprehend the muggle authorities they-” Alice’s voice broke, “the Aurors managed to get the child away safely but her parents… Lily, her parents didn’t make it.”

  
Tears prickled at Lily’s eyes but anger burned in her heart. She kept it suppressed with the beginnings of a plan.  
“I’m so sorry Alice,” Lily set, portraying nothing of her inner turmoil.

  
Alice nodded before wiping away a stray tear. “I hate to do this Lily, but you know we are barely functioning as a ministry. We only have two departments for Christ sake! We can’t use any proper formalities because there aren’t any, Lily this child needs a family. I can’t take her, I’m barely surviving with Neville right now…”  
Lily suddenly understood, “I’ll take her Alice.”

  
A new wave of tears threatened to overwhelm her but the dark-haired woman managed to hold them back.

  
“Thank you, Lily, I just… I couldn’t let her go to some random family, not with the prejudice around muggles becoming so strong… I know she’ll be safe, and at the very least well looked after, with you. I just can’t help but feel guilty. We never get there in time, we just aren’t quick enough.”

  
Lily pulled her friend into another hug before stepping back and looking intently down at the child.

  
“What’s her name?” she asked.

  
“Hermione Granger, though it might be safer for her if you change it. You know, no one has really seen you in the last year or so, it would be so easy to pass her off as your own. Hell, she could even be Harry’s twin with that dark head of hair, she would be safer that way.”

  
Lily nodded, she could see the logic in that. There hadn’t been a muggle-born registered in the wizarding world for three months now, not since the war ended, and people were very nervous around the mention of muggles, or even muggle-borns since the bombs had fallen.

  
“Is there even paperwork for something like this anymore?” Lily asked, knowing that the war had screwed up so many different systems in the ministry.  
Alice shrugged, “I don’t think so, but we will need something if the issue is brought up down the track, I’ll contact David, he has muggle family and will be unlikely to protest the idea. He can draw up the contract and I’ll act as a witness. No one will dispute that, especially not when you consider the fact that we were recovering from the worst war in wizarding history.”

  
Lily agreed.

  
“Alright, if that’s all Alice I’ll take her home with me. I want Ditsy to check her over, house-elf magic is just as good as ours for this sort of thing.”

  
“Go ahead Lily," Alice agreed, "and again, I can’t thank you enough for doing this. It offers me so much peace of mind to know that she will be well looked after.”

  
Lily nodded while reaching down and gently lifting the sleeping child from the crib. The little girl barely stirred in her sleep at the motion. Unfortunately, Lily did have to wake her slightly to place Hermione on her hip. After all, she still needed a hand to use the floo. Lily gasped at the beautiful brown eyes that stared back at her. They were gorgeous but Lily knew she would have to do something about them. No one would believe the child was hers when there was no way a child of hers and James could have chocolate eyes.

  
“See you, Alice,” Lily said.

  
“Goodbye, Lily.”

  
Keeping a careful hold on her new daughter Lily stepped in the floo, leaving the ministry behind.

 

* * *

 

 

A/N

To put it bluntly:

\- I won't be updating regularly

\- If I abandon this story I'll say it

\- I don't have a Beta reader, so if you aren't volunteering your services deal with it.

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

Lily Evens wasn’t called the brightest witch of her age for nothing. It took two days for her to come up with a solution to the eye colour problem. An enchanted (child-safe) necklace. Anytime the necklace was placed around her neck, or anyone’s neck really, her eye colour would turn green and would stay that way until the necklace was removed.

The spells Lily had used were quite complex. To have that kind of intense magic going on all while being untraceable: well perhaps Dumbledore might have been able to though, that wasn’t really a problem, now was it? No one would ever be able to tell that there was magic coming from the necklace. What was more, Lily had also made sure to enchant the chain that she had put the charm on.

Never would the chain break, never would it be able to be forcibly removed and never would the magic fade. Lily knew that later, when Hermione was older, she could make the decision on whether or not she wanted to hide her identity but until then Lily would make sure that she always wore it.

It was just going on 9pm when Lily checked on her two children, peaking into their room and making sure that all was well.

Seeing that both were still sound asleep, and if the past two nights were anything to go by they would remain so until at least 12, she carefully stepped back out and headed down stairs. Once standing in the living room she called for Ditsy. The elf appeared immediately and quickly noticed Lily’s attire.

“What does my Lady need?” asked Ditsy, eyes full of curiosity.

“I’m going out,” Lily said, trying not to let her nerves show, “I need you to watch over Harry and Hermione while I’m gone. I should be back before they wake up at midnight.”

Ditsy nodded, “Ditsy will look after the young ones, of course. Ditsy hopes she isn’t over stepping miss but where is miss going at such a late hour?”

Lily tried to smile convincingly, “I just have a few friends to visit, don’t worry Ditsy, I’ll be back before they wake.”

Ditsy’s eyes remained suspicious but she still nodded before popping away. Lily took a steadying breath before pulling out her wand and leaving the house. As she travelled through the Potter gardens to the furthest apparition point, she didn’t want the sound waking the kids, she started casting charms on herself.

The first quietened her footsteps, the next silenced the rustling of her clothes. Glamour charms hid her identity just in case something went wrong and the final spell made sure that no one would be able to trace her movements, muggle methods or otherwise. By the time Lily got to the apparation point the only way you would be able to tell she was there was by sight, no sound nor smell would give her away.

Lily hadn’t necessarily been lying to the elf, she was indeed hoping to see some friends at some point; however, she did not think that it would be tonight, nor would her journey would be safe.

Before leaving Lily put on the final touch, James’ invisibility cloak. Wrapping it around her secularly Lily also cast a charm to make sure it stayed in place. It wouldn’t do to have the thing slip off in the middle of her self-designated mission.

With everything set and ready to go Lily took one last look at the Manor, a determined expression on her face.

She would not return empty handed, she was not going to fail tonight.

She apparated with a pop, leaving the safety of the house behind and heading to one of the most dangerous places on Earth.

oOoOo

Lily’s plan relied heavily on her knowledge of muggles. Considering her sister was one, she thought that she should have the upper hand in that regard. After apparating to the outskirts of the building she wanted Lily, she paused, listening for any signs that she had been heard.

Lily stood in front of the Muggle’s government building, it held all of her hopes and quite possibly a few answers that she wasn’t even aware of wanting yet.

Still undetected she started up the path to the front doors. It was a moment of personal victory when she reached out, and after a few very specific spells, walked straight through them. Without the charms that wizards put on their buildings, walking through walls was suddenly a very useful skill. Knowing that her magic, and her personally created spells, were powerful enough to beat the muggle’s security systems, was another personal win.

Despite coming from that world originally their recent actions were something that she just couldn’t agree with and therefore Lily felt no guilt as she illegally entered one of their most important buildings. Determined to not be detected unless she had to Lily made sure not to use too much more magic in case it triggered a new kind of sensor that she didn’t know about.

Eventually, after a few wrong turns, because it was a massive building, Lily found the office that she wanted.

The room very clearly held things of importance, made obvious through the grandeur of the decoration. Lily wanted to snort but since that would only ruin all her hard work in making her movements silent she refrained.

Hurrying about her task Lily cast one last charm on her hands, wiping away her finger prints temporarily. There would be no trace of her presence, of that she was sure.

There was something almost too easy about breaking into England’s parliament house, but Lily had more important things to do than investigate that thought. Carefully, after one final check that the cameras were indeed currently out-of-order, Lily started leafing through documents. With sure but quick movements she quickly discarded several documents that clearly had nothing to do with the magical world.

Several documents (mentioning space) and China later Lily stumbled across what she was looking for. The words on the page told her exactly what she needed to know; the address that the magical kids were being taken.

Lily quickly made a copy of the parchment before carefully putting it back in the pile. Then, just as she was about to put all the documents back, a word caught her eye.

Subject 2.

Naturally, it’s always assumed that that a government is conducting some form of experiment behind the scenes but now it had caught her attention other things on the document started to stand out.

Mainly the words, ‘werewolf’.

Unknown to the majority of the public, since the information would likely cause even more hysteria on the muggle issue, several wizards who had fought in battles that had taken place in the muggle world had disappeared. Not been murdered, or ran away, they completely went off the grid and any location techniques had failed to find them, though they did give off the implication that the missing wizards were still alive.

One such case had been Remus Lupin. He had been one of the first to go missing after the muggles had gotten involved with Voldemort’s war. The werewolves were just too obvious, considering they turned into real wolves every full moon, which had meant that the muggles could find them easily.

It had been the first of many losses for Lily Evens.

Now, seeing the word werewolves sparked, a slightly unrealistic, hope within her and suddenly her single goal turned into two. She just couldn’t ignore what she had found.

Making a copy of that document too Lily finally put the rest back in their original spots, careful to make sure that nothing looked out of place.

Quickly tucking her hands back under the cloak, and folding the papers to put in a pocket, Lily left the office. It took less time leaving the complex now that she knew her way around, she supposed that she could just apparate but she didn’t want to push her luck. After all, it had been pretty good so far.

Just as she exited the building she noted cars hurriedly pulling up. Apparently turning off the cameras had been enough to warrant a response from the muggles.

Lily smirked as they piled out and hurried towards the building. They would find nothing but a shorted-out circuit, there wasn’t even an unlocked door for them to worry about.

With a final triumphant grin Lily walked away from the scene, deciding that she would find a better place to apparate within the city.

oOoOo

Once she was back at Potter manner the first thing Lily did was check on her children. She used the time it took to walk back into the building to remove all the silencing charms that she had placed on herself.

It was extremely weird to hear her own footsteps again; apparently, she had gotten used to the sensation of being silent. Removing James’ cloak she looked at the material fondly, it was one of many reminders of her husband but it was also a reminder of the good old times, back when everything had been a little easier.

Knowing that if she looked at it too long she would likely start to cry Lily quickly banished it back up to the study, it’s heirloom status allowing it through the rooms wards.

As quietly as she could, though everything sounded loud now compared to her recent movements, Lily found herself in a familiar position, standing in the doorway of the nursery, gently turning the doorhandle and peaking inside.

Lily nearly laughed when she saw Ditsy carefully keeping watch. The elf was sitting in the armchair, which was much too big for the creature, but there was a peaceful expression on her face that assured Lily that her elf had everything covered.

At the sound of her entrance the elf spared a moment to glance back at her. Quickly the creature moved from the chair and, soundlessly, appeared beside Lily on the landing. Closing the door Lily turned to the elf and received a full report on how the children had gone. After thanking Ditsy Lily headed to the study, determined to explore the information she had gathered more thoroughly and start making plans on what to do about it.  

 


	3. Chapter 3

Lily sat to Alice’s right, clearly indicating her place in the proceedings. For her part, Alice was effectively keeping control of the room. The heads of the three remaining departments sat in Alice’s office, tired but determined looks on their faces.

“We have recently come into some information regarding two very delicate matters, I request your utmost discretion from here on out. Am I clear?” Alice asked after the initial pleasantries had been taken care of.

Rufus Scrimgeour was the first to agree, as head of the MLE it was a relief to know that they had his support, though Lily made sure not to show any visible signs of her feelings.

Saul Croaker, promoted after the death of his senior in the war, head of the DOM was next to consent. After all, it wasn’t like he wasn’t used to that sort of thing. Secrets were his specialty.

Graham Carter, head of the Department of International Affairs was the last to agree. His job had become one of the most crucial now that the Statue of Secrecy was broken and Lily held her breath as he pondered Alice’s request.

“I hope this isn’t something that I’ll regret,” he muttered, “of course Alice, you have my complete compliance but I do wish you’d keep me out of these sorts of things. It’s hard to do my job if I know something that I, well, that I shouldn’t.”

Alice tilted her head in acknowledgement, he was right about that.

“I’m afraid those fears are justified this time,” she told him, attempting to prepare him for what was to come.

“Alright Minister Longbottom, what’s this all about?” asked Rufus, never one to beat around the bush.

Lily braced herself as Alice explained the information she had discovered two nights ago. While Alice had not approved of the way Lily had gone about getting it the fact of the matter was, they couldn’t ignore what she had discovered.

“The information discovered indicates not only a possible location for our missing people,” Alice said, pulling out copies of the papers Lily had given her, “but also details regarding the muggle’s handling of their magical children.”

Saul sucked in a sharp breath, “you mean to say that all the wizards and witches that went missing during the war were taken by the muggles?”

Graham’s face twisted into an expression of horror, “tell me you aren’t implying what I think you are. Tell me that the muggles aren’t behind this. Surely, it was Voldemort’s people…”

But Alice was already shaking her head, “I’m sorry Graham, but Saul is right. It appears as if the muggles used the war to cover up their actions. We have documentation of several known missing wizards being held in a muggle facility, though we can’t guarantee that all of our missing people were taken, we can assume it was a fair number.”

Her declaration was met with silence.

“So,” Rufus growled out, clearly having trouble controlling himself. Lily wondered if someone close to him had been taken. “What do we do about this?” he asked.

Saul got in before Alice, “what do you mean? We’re rescuing them, right?”

Alice grimaced, “more or less. Before we talk about that I must remind you about the second point. We now also know what the muggles are doing with the muggle-borns.”

“What does it matter? They aren’t our problem!” he objected.

Lily stood immediately, “the hell they aren’t!” but before it could escalate Alice held up a hand.

“Please, Lily, take a seat.”

Blood boiling Lily took a deep breath before following her instructions. Alice was right, getting angry wouldn’t help, and she trusted her friend to handle the situation.

“Rufus,” Alice said, gaining the man’s full attention, “we can not dismiss magical children just because the muggles waged war against us. The muggles are using these children. Taking them from their families and training them to become,” Alice grimaced, “weapons.”

Rufus deflated, “what do you propose we do then?”

Lily grinned as the planning begun.

oOoOo

 

Harry had never been an overly social child. Of course, in saying that he wasn’t even two yet. Lily watched carefully as he and Hermione got used to each other. As much as young toddlers could.

They did appear to be becoming friends though, and that lifted a weight in Lily’s heart.

Currently, both toddlers and their mother were in the ‘play room’ at Potter Manor. Harry was playing with his enchanted Quidditch figurines while Hermione diligently stacked her blocks. It was a good distraction for Lily, as she was trying desperately not to think about the rescue missions taking place this very second. Had she not been a mother of two she would have been the first to go but after her rather, unorthodox, mission earlier in the week Alice had harshly reminded her that she had children depending on her.

Lily sighed heavily, sometimes it was difficult to restrain herself. She could only really think of it as the ‘old Lily’ coming back. The one before she had gotten pregnant. The one who had always been out there on the front lines with James, Sirius, Remus and Peter.

Before she could spiral at the thought of her lost lover and friends again, Lily was pulled back to the present by a girl’s wailing cry. She held back a snort when she realised Harry had knocked over Hermione’s tower.

_Way to make friends Harry. Just like James._

Grinning, Lily went over and started to comfort Hermione. In the week she had been here the poor girl had become inconsolable more than once when it became obvious her parents weren’t here; however, she was starting to warm up to Lily.

“Harry,” Lily admonished as she cast a charm to clean up Hermione’s wet face, “you need to be more careful.”

Harry looked up at her with big, teary eyes. Lily had learned that, for now at least, her son was a sympathetic crier and whenever Hermione cried for one reason or another Harry was not far behind.

“Don’t look at me like that, you need to apologise to your sister” Lily tried, hoping that she wouldn’t give in to her son’s adorable face _again._

Harry nodded, though Lily wasn’t entirely sure he had understood her.

“Harry, can you say ‘sorry’?” Lily tried.

Harry scrunched up his face before attempting something that mostly sounded like the word. Lily shrugged, while some words he now knew, it was still early days yet so she wouldn’t push it.

“Hermione sweetie,” Lily said, turning to the girl in her arms, “see? He’s sorry. It’s okay. We can rebuild it.”

Hermione turned hopeful and the flood of tears promptly stopped, “weally?”

“Really,” Lily said, stressing the r sound.

Gently, she set the girl down again before kneeling beside her. She had said ‘we’ after all. Even Harry tried to help, handing Hermione blocks even if they were easily within reach.

With the two children now playing together admirably Lily stood and returned to her pointless fretting. There was absolutely nothing she could do until Alice notified her of any news.

It didn’t help that Remus could be one of the wizards rescued. The desire to see her best-friend again was almost all-consuming but she was a mother which, frustratingly at times, meant that she would just have to push it to the back of her mind.


	4. Chapter 4

When Alice's patronus appeared in Lily's living room she didn't hesitate to call for Ditsy.

"Don't worry miss, Ditsy will take good care of them while you are gone," the elf assured her.

Lily smiled at her gratefully before sprinting towards the floo. She barely even had the presence of mind to grab her handbag before heading straight to St. Mungos.

Instead of the traditional bustle of the hospital there was a significant lack of people. That wasn't to say it wasn't busy, as Lily saw nurses running back and forth.

Determinedly Lily interrupted one, "excuse me…"

But before Lily could finish her sentence the nurse cut her off, "I'm sorry but we just got an influx of patients I can't-"

Lily let the nurse go. They had important work to do and really, Lily figured she should be able to look for Remus herself. So, as the nurse hurried along Lily followed at a distance. It didn't matter really, it wasn't like there was anyone to stop her.

Lily made a note of that as she went along. When next possible, St. Mungo's need higher security protocols. Lily started with intensive care. She had no idea what state Remus would be in but at least if she started with that then she'd either find him or know that he wasn't in critical condition.

She wouldn't even allow herself to consider the possibility that he wasn't still alive, that just wasn't an option at this point.

When she reached her goal, Lily let out a sigh of relief. There were plenty of people in intensive care but none of them were Remus.

Next, she peeked into the operating theatre. She wasn't entirely sure what it was called in magical terms, she had never studied healing, but he wasn't there either.

Lily started to hope that he might actually be okay.

Then a bone-chilling howl echoed around the building.

Lily's blood ran cold but not because she was afraid. No, it was because suddenly a thought occurred to her that she should have realised sooner. No hospital would willingly treat a werewolf.

Furious Lily ran straight towards the sound. Naturally, the howls were broken and interrupted but they were enough to lead Lily to an abandoned floor of the hospital.

She knew she was getting close when she came across a hallway of guards. Lily fumed and pulled her wand, predicting some resistance to her presence.

"Mam, you can't be here," said one of the four guards stepping directly into her path.

Lily ground her teeth. She knew that technically, given the howls, Remus was dangerous but these guards didn't understand.

So, without thinking, Lily raised her wand on the guard. When she thought about it afterward, she probably could have handled the situation better, but right then she was angry and desperate.

The auror was on his ass faster then he could blink and Lily didn't pause in turning on the rest of them.

The next auror to face her managed to block her first spell but not the second and they quickly found themselves stunned.

The third and fourth guards put up quite the fight and Lily very nearly lost but a quick charm to one set of feet had them handing upside down and a well-placed disarming jinx took care off the last.

Stunning them as well Lily turned towards the door they had been guarding.

There were soft whimpers coming from the other side so Lily knew that she had the right door but a thought occurred to her.

Yes, there was a werewolf behind this door but she also had no idea if it was Remus.

It also occurred to her that it was only the early hours of the night so it would be a long time before the wolf reverted back.

As the wolf howled once again Lily tilted her head and focused on the sound, hoping that her inner animagus might pick up any identifying features. She wasn't entirely sure if that was a thing but she had gone to all this trouble and wasn't about to give up now.

So, again, she focused on her inner animagus. Just like the boys she had learned how when she had learned what Remus was. She hadn't been able to perfect it before the war so she had never transformed with them all but she had spent one full moon with Remus.

Hopefully, that was enough for the werewolf to recognise her because she was pretty sure it was him. Those sorrowful howls were striking a very familiar chord inside so Lily summoned her wits.

' _This is a bad idea'_ she thought as she starting casting wards around the room in front of her. If she was going to do this, she was going to make sure everyone else was safe.

After she had cast as many as she could think of, she braced herself. It was now or never.

With determined and quick movements Lily unlocked the door and stepped inside. In the same movement she wandlessly cast a locking charm and then, just as the werewolf fixed its gaze on her; she transformed.

Suddenly, the werewolf paused and its aggressive stance changed to one of curiosity.

Internally, Lily let out a breath of relief. The wolf recognised her.

Despite being the natural prey of the wolf, the doe stood proudly. It was this that made the wolf do a double take and inhale the other creature's scent.

Lily stiffened as he neared but relaxed when all Remus did was sniff her. Suddenly, all tension left the room as the wolf recognised a member of its pack.

Lily cautiously nuzzled her old friend, if they had been human she would have been crying in relief.

Remus was okay.

oOoOo

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!"

Lily winced as Alice continued to berate her, though now at a lower volume, "you have two kids to think about! You can't just run into a room with a werewolf! What if he had attacked you? What would have happened to them, huh? God Lily, what if it hadn't been Remus?"

Lily let her friend rant. She knew Alice was just concerned but she hadn't been in any danger. She had known it was Remus before going in and she'd been pretty sure he wasn't going to attack her.

She wasn't going to say any of that now though. Instead, she just let Alice get it all out.

"I'm okay Alice," she said when her friend finally ran out of words.

Alice looked like she wanted to yell at her again but instead, she simply turned and headed off down the hall, "next time Lily, just wait for him to transform back."

Lily sighed in exasperation as she turned back to the door they had been standing in front of. Through the small window she could see Remus, sound asleep in a hospital bed. He had passed out when he transformed back but was otherwise fine.

She wanted to wait around until he woke up but she needed to get back to the kids. She had already left them all night in Ditsy's care. The guilt had been slowly eating away at her. Not to mention the fact that she hadn't really been away from Harry this long in well, ever.

Privately, Lily was a little relieved to be actually _having_ these feelings. It was proof, to her at least, that she was doing something right in the parenting department.

Turning away from the door Lily walked back to the floo network. She passed a few people on her way, all of which were much less hurried then they had been last night. Obviously, they had been dealing with an influx of patients due to the raids the ministry had conducted yesterday.

Lily had been pleasantly surprised to learn that both plans had gone off without too many problems. That wasn't too say they had run smoothly. A few precious lives had even been lost; however, almost a hundred wizards and witches had been rescued alongside Remus and that didn't include the Muggle-born children who had also been retrieved.

Of course, despite the fact that the immediate problem had been taken care of, it didn't prevent the muggles from kidnapping others as they found them.

That's why, naturally, Lily had a plan but first she needed to go home to her children.


	5. Chapter 5

"Hermione!" Lily gasped, completely astonished to find the young girl giggling from her position on the dining room table.

On the floor was Harry, attempting to climb one of the chairs to reach her.

Ditsy had her arms raised and was clearly about to fix the situation; however, she froze upon Lily's arrival.

In that second Hermione clapped her hands and suddenly all the furniture lifted off the floor, taking both children with it. Lily didn't even have time to react before Harry was falling to the floor.

It wasn't a very big drop but it still would have been detrimental to a child of his age; however, miraculously, Harry stopped a few inches from the floor.

Lily looked wildly towards Ditsy but the elf shook her head, it hadn't been her.

Twisting her wrist and allowing her wand to fall from its holster to her hand Lily quickly cast a number of spells that resulted in both children ending up in their pen, which she had summoned.

Lily rushed over to her children, casting quick diagnostic spells even though they looked completely fine.

When all was once again right with the two, she also checked on Ditsy. When she determined that everyone was fine, Lily let out a sigh of relief.

"What happened?" she asked Ditsy gently, noting that the poor elf appeared to be on the verge of tears.

"Ditsy is so sorry! Ditsy is such a bad elf!" she cried, hands tugging on her ears in dismay, "Ditsy was barely gone a second to fetch lunch, but when I's be returning the young miss was already on the table!"

Lily knew, from experience, that the best remedy for her poor elf was to set her a task to keep her mind off things. So, that's what she did.

"It's alright Ditsy, everyone is fine now. You can't help accidental magic," and that's what had happened she realised, "how about you start cleaning up everything in here while I take the kids to the kitchen where we can all have lunch?"

Immediately upon being given a task Ditsy turned from tearful to determined, "of course Mistress! Ditsy will make it up to you!" she clicked her fingers and made the dishes that Lily hadn't noticed sitting to the side of the room disappear, "food is waiting in the kitchen and Ditsy will take cares of this mess she will!"

Lily smiled and she stood, crisis averted.

Letting both children out of the pen she took their hands as she allowed them to start toddling towards the kitchen. It was a bit of a hassle getting both settled (god she needed some sleep) but once they had food in front of them they seemed to forget all about their earlier excitement.

After a few minutes, Ditsy popped down and helped clean up after the kids. Lily made sure to ask how she was but the little elf had apparently bounced back without too much drama.

Lily was relieved, she didn't really want to have to monitor the elf as well as her two kids.

Knowing that she wouldn't get a break until nap time Lily resigned herself to a long morning.

oOoOo

After everyone had enjoyed a nap Lily had taken them all outside. It was then that she broached the topic of heading back to St. Mungos with Ditsy. She really wanted to go back to check on Remus but she wasn't about to leave her kids with the elf again if she wasn't comfortable with it.

"Ditsy is determined Miss, she will be the best nanny ever she will!" Ditsy said after Lily brought it up.

"Are you sure? It's okay if you can't Ditsy, I don't want to overwhelm you," Lily said hesitantly. She didn't want to accidentally offend the creature.

Ditsy shook her head vehemently, "Ditsy can take cares of them she can!"

Lily nodded her head in consent. After all, Ditsy had been about to fix the situation when she had entered earlier.

"Alright, and this time it will only be for a few hours. Not the whole night. I'll be back before dinner," Lily said, trying to reassure the elf, even if she wasn't sure she needed to.

"Miss is very generous but Ditsy will be fine," Ditsy said, turning towards the kids and signaling the end of the conversation.

Holding back her sigh of exasperation Lily stood and headed to the floo. She wasn't going to linger when she was now on the clock.

Back at St. Mungo's Lily quickly navigated to Remus' room.

"Remus? I'm-" Lily stopped dead as she entered. Remus was still in his bed, though now awake, but that wasn't what had surprised her.

No, what had surprised her was the presence of another wizard in the room, one she had long thought of as dead.

"Sirius?" she whispered, not quite believing her eyes.

Sirius had disapeared right in the middle of the war. He had been about to try and track down Remus if Lily recalled correctly. If she thought about it, it made a lot of sense that Sirius was found along side him.

The wizard in question was sitting beside Remus' bed, in a hospital gown, with a pinched expression on his face.

The minute he saw Lily he shot out of his chair faster than she could process it all.

Lily stood rather dazed as she accepted a hug from one of the men she had thought she would never see again.

"Lily! Thank god. Remus said… but I still wasn't sure," he muttered, pulling back and checking her over.

Suddenly Lily's brain kicked back into gear, "Oh my god, Sirius. I can't believe you're alive!" she said pulling him back into another hug. Lily let the happy tears fall as she squeezed the wizard in her arms.

She wasn't alone anymore.

It hadn't really hit her before. When she had first found the information on Remus she hadn't dared think that he might still be alive and then later, when she had entered the room he was being held in, she had been too preoccupied to realise the full impact.

But seeing Sirius seemed to make it more real, despite the fact that it was the more impossible of the two events.

"How the hell are you alive?" she blurted as she finally released him.

Immediately, Lily flushed but she relaxed when Sirius laughed. It was a sound she had sorely missed.

"I want to know the answer to that too," he admitted as he headed back over the chair he had just vacated.

Lily watched concerned as she realised that he clearly had injuries of his own but she held off from interrogating him as her eyes settled on Remus. After all, if Sirius was up and about then they couldn't be that bad.

Remus, on the other hand, looked awful. Though, Lily did note that he didn't appear beyond recovery. Mostly, it was just the evidence of his transformation last night.

"Remus, how are you feeling?" Lily inquired.

"Fine, Sirius has been looking after me," Remus said, giving his old friend a genuine smile.

Lily felt a massive weight lift off her shoulders. She loved both boys but she had, guiltily, been thinking that she wouldn't be able to help them as much in their recovery as she wanted to; but, if they were taking care of each other then that guilt eased a little.

"I'm glad," Lily said softly, gazing fondly at her two boys. James' had always joked that they had never needed kids because they already had two (Peter had always been a bit more independent then Remus and Sirius).

The pain that erupted in her chest at the thought of James felt physical, though Lily knew it wasn't. Despite her best efforts the pain managed to appear on her face and suddenly both men were watching her with concern.

"Lils? You okay?" Sirius asked. Then, as if to drive the point home, "hey, where's James?"

Lily squeezed her eyes shut. This couldn't be happening. The thought hadn't even crossed her mind that they wouldn't know, but then again, how could they have? They'd been taken by muggles, been kept in god-only-knows-what conditions and had only been recovered after the war. They couldn't know about James, about Dumbledore, about the state of the world.

It suddenly hit Lily like a train, she had a monumental task in front of her. How was she supposed to tell them?

Remus frowned and motioned Sirius over to her, wanting to go himself but unable to.

For a third time that day, Lily found herself embraced by her practically-in-every-other-way-but-blood brother.

Before the two boys could start to draw any conclusions, Lily voiced their worst fears, "he's dead."

As the tears started to fall Lily heard Remus' moan of main and she felt Sirius shudder against her as he choked back a sob of his own.

Suddenly, Remus seemed to find the strength to move because a third set of arms wrapped around them as the three of them cried. It was quite possibly a once in a lifetime event but Lily couldn't be bothered to point it out. So what if both boys rarely cried.

It was safe to say that they lingered in that position for a long time.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N**

**Hey lovelies, just a few quick words.**

**I'm sorry about any inconsistencies with the timing of my story. For instance, Harry's birth/ and or the muggle-born appearances/disappearances.**

**I have no excuse other then I'm lazy, and busy, however, be assured that Harry's birthday is obviously still the same even if in the books he was born earlier. We can all just believe that the war started earlier in my story's timeline.**

* * *

Two days passed before Lily could go and see her boys again. After their breakdown over James' death, she had decided to give them time to adjust to the shocking news. Now, she had to give out some more.

"What do you mean, 'technically the muggles won'?" Sirius demanded. He was once again seated beside Remus' bed; however, this time, the wolf looked much better.

Lily grimaced, "after Voldemort managed to completely take over the ministry his ever growing 'revels' caught the attention of the muggles," she scoffed, "Voldemort didn't even try to hide it really. He had a puppet minister and yet he still couldn't be bothered to use them to reassure the muggles."

Both boys were listening with rapt attention so Lily continued, "the statue of secrecy fell," Lily ignored their gaps of horror, "then the order received news via," Lily winced, this wasn't going to go down well, "Severus."

Immediately, Sirius jumped to his feet, "that bastard! I told you he was no good and you listened to him?" he asked incredulously.

Lily frowned, "now you listen to me, Sirius Black!" her hands found their way to her hips, "Severus may have been a death eater when you last knew him but he turned into our best spy!" tears prickled at Lily's eyes and without any of the previous anger she had felt she continued, "he turned because of me."

That shut Sirius up. Remus reached over and dragged the other man back into his chair, "what do you mean Lils?" the wolf asked.

"It happened right near the end of my pregnancy," she said, recalling the events with clarity, "I wasn't supposed to leave the house but James had been injured and was at St Mungos," deciding it was best just to spit it all out at once, and not linger on the memory of James, Lily continued, "they attacked the hospital while I was visiting him, and before I knew it I was facing the wrong end of a Death Eater's wand."

Sirius' face was completely drained of colour and Remus wasn't far behind.

"James was out cold and I," Lily laughed bitterly, "I had left my wand in my handbag on the other side of the room. Just when I thought I was done for, Severus burst into the room and without batting an eye obliviated the death eater. If it hadn't been for him, neither Harry nor I would have survived the war," she told them grimly.

"But, why?" Sirius asked, still clearly shaken at the thought of Lily's close call.

Remus hit him on the arm, "what he means to say is; we know you two were friends once but I remember it ending pretty badly."

Lily conceded their point, "that much is true; however, before his death, Severus admitted that he had always regretted the end of our friendship and hinted that he also regretted joining Voldemort. Certainly, his actions prove that much since after he saved my life he became a spy for the order."

Sirius didn't appear to know what to say but Remus came to the rescue as always, "I'm sorry, Lily."

Lily nodded, feeling her eyes tear up a little. It was true, she and Severus had only barely managed to patch their friendship but it had been enough for his death to mean something to her. She was sad to see him go, but that was war.

After a moment of silence Sirius redirected the conversation back to what he really wanted to know, "so, whatever happened with – Snape – he ended up giving the order a vital piece of information?"

"Yes," Lily confirmed, "the time and location of a battle that Voldemort would actively be partaking in. Since the take over he hadn't made many public appearances and we realised that this might be the last chance to go after him. Of course, right around then Harry came along," Lily smiled fondly, "so I don't know too many details myself other than their one and only hope was to take out Voldemort."

Lily steeled herself for the last part, "so, the final battle approached. Our forces went in, J-J-James included," she managed. Lily took a deep breath before continuing, "I don't know who would have won that battle because suddenly it was all over," Lily's fist clenched automatically in anger, "the muggles sent in a nuclear bomb."

Remus understood immediately but upon seeing Sirius' confusion at the term he explained. Once Sirius had grasped the concept he turned back to Lily, horrified, "what kind of monsters would create something like that!"

Remus had his own questions, "how did they even know? How did they find the battle?"

Lily let out a dark chuckle, "they found a way to track, sense, find, whatever you want to call it, magic. When the battle started, the sheer amount of magic being used sent out a massive signal, one which now the muggles could pick up on."

A feral growl ripped from Remus' throat and Lily grimaced, "I know. They still use the technology, if we so much as put a toe out of line they know about it."

So, it might have been a small white lie. Lily knew that she needed a deterrent to keep both boys going after the muggles for a while and it had kind of been a spontaneous decision to exaggerate the powers of the muggles detection technology. It did exist of course, but it just wasn't as powerful as she had said it was.

"So," Remus said after everyone took a moment to collect themselves, "where does that leave us now?"

"It leaves us with an unsteady truce with the muggles that Alice constructed when she took over as Minister of Magic. A position I may have prompted her to take. Voldemort was obliterated in the battle along w-w-with everyone else and now the ministry is slowly trying to put the wizarding world back together," Lily said bluntly.

Sirius whistled, "how did Alice become Minister of Magic?"

Lily shrugged but let a small hint of the inner grin she was feeling to appear on her face, "some people claim the right place, right time but it doesn't really matter now does it?" she said innocently.

Sirius snorted.

Suddenly, Remus let out a massive yawn and Lily took pity on her old friend, "well, I'd better be going. I've got two kids to take care of you know."

Lily's eyes widened as she realised what she had said and how she had completely forgotten to mention it to the boys.

"What?" Sirius practically shouted.

Urgently, Lily motioned for him to lower his voice as she strengthened the muffling charms around the room. She really had meant to tell them but it just, well, hadn't come up.

"Okay, so there's been this whole thing about missing muggle-borns since the muggle's found out about us. Finally, we realised that they were taking the children before we even knew they existed. On one of the recon missions, the Aurors recovered a muggle-born witch but they couldn't save her family. Our society, it's not exactly in the most stable condition right now and to try and introduce a muggle-born, the only new muggle-born since the war began, would be very dangerous," Lily took a deep breath, "so, Alice and I decided it would be easy enough to pass her off as my own, Harry's twin."

Lily hoped that by simply ripping the band-aid off, so to speak, it would help everyone understand but she was met with two completely flabbergasted looks.

"Right, okay, uh-huh," Sirius managed while Remus still couldn't seem to find any words at all.

"So, you now have two kids?" Sirius doubled checked.

"Yeah," Lily confirmed, holding in an absurd giggle over the whole situation. It wasn't every day you told your two closest friends that you suddenly had another kid. Silently, she scolded herself. This was not a laughing situation.

"Right," Remus said, coming to terms with the news, "that's, great! Now, Harry has a sister."

Immediately, all three of them winced. Yes, Harry had a sister but with that wording came the reminder that he would never have a full blood sibling.

"Yes, well, maybe he'll actually learn to share unlike someone else I know," Sirius said, sniffing indignantly at Remus and trying to shuffle his way onto the bed.

Lily snorted, "right, well, on that note I'm going to see when you two can be released," as she spoke she turned around and left the room. Leaving Sirius and Remus to digest all that she had said.

oOoOo

When she discovered that they could leave at the end of the week she had insisted that both come and stay with her and ever since she and Ditsy had been making sure that Potter Manner was ready.

Of course, Lily had also taken it upon herself to immediately start searching for all the ingredients for the Wolfsbane potion as well. She knew that it would be difficult but there were still one or two people out there who could procure the right ingredients if motivated correctly. Lily figured James would be okay with the expense considering it was for one of his closest friends.

She also had to sit both Harry and Hermione down and try to talk them through who Sirius and Remus were and why they would be staying for a while; though, at their current age, neither seemed to care all that much.

What they did care about was Lily taking both to St. Mungo's to meet the two men before they moved in to try and smooth the process over a little. Well, that and she thought that meeting Harry might be a bit overwhelming for both men and it would be better to do it now, when they had some way to retreat should they become overwhelmed, then later.

"Alright, are you both ready?" she asked, looking over both children intently. This would be their first time leaving the house together. Their first time out in public as a family.

Not that Lily really thought it was going to be a problem. Aside from the patients, there were barely enough people in the hospital to notice and the staff were too busy to care.

So, with Harry on her hip and Hermione holding on to her leg Lily threw a hand full of floo powder into the fireplace.

"St. Mungos!" she called before reaching down and taking Hermione's hand in hers. Then, she quickly led her into the flames.

Immediately, they appeared in St. Mungos and Lily made sure to move away from the floo before checking on both children.

Preferably, children were carried through the floo until they were old enough to operate it themselves, but Lily didn't have much choice being a single parent traveling alone. So, she had made sure to tell Hermione about the seriousness of their travel and the very young toddler had seemed to understand.

Placing Harry down beside her the two children giggled at the sight of the other. Both were covered in ash from the floo travel and apparently found it hilarious.

Lily sighed, clearly both were fine. As Harry reached out and attempted to brush the soot away from Hermione's shoulder Lily pulled out her wand and cleaned them all up.

"Come on you two," she said, breaking the giggling toddlers apart and grabbing their hands, "don't you want to meet Uncle Sirius and Uncle Remus?"

"But mummmm," whined Harry, "I don't wanna walk."

Lily smirked, "but Harry, don't you remember? Uncle Sirius is going to show you a really cool trick today. Something very few wizards can do."

_Well, at least very few who weren't friends with James Potter._

Hermione tugged on her hand, "w-what about witches? Could I do it?"

Lily smiled down and her, since integrating Hermione into their family they had also had to introduce the young girl to the idea of magic. Thankfully, for such a young mind, it wasn't a hard concept to grasp or believe in.

"One day, Hermione," Lily informed her young charge, "you'll be able to do anything you set your mind to."

Hermione beamed up at her before Lily focused back on leading them to their destination. They briefly paused at registration before continuing on their way.

When they finally arrived at Remus and Sirius' room Lily looked over both kids once again. They seemed fine, not stressed or concerned, so she gently let go of Harry's hand to knock on the door.

"Come in!" Remus called.

Lily opened the door and led both children through. Immediately, she noticed that Sirius was not there though Remus did not seem concerned.

"Lily, it's good to see you again," Remus greeted as he stood from the chair he had been sitting in. He looked even better then the last time she had seen him. Though, that could have had everything to do with the fact that the full moon was now a solid week behind him.

"Hey Remus," Lily replied, now practically dragging two suddenly shy kids across the room.

When she got closer she paused and pulled Harry and Hermione forward slightly.

"Harry, Hermione, this is Uncle Remus," she explained.

Harry, ever the bold one, was the first to take a step forward, "hello."

"Hi Harry," Remus greeted, a slightly pained smile appearing on his face as he crouched down. Lily was sure it had nothing to do with any lingering injuries he might have had and everything to do with the head of hair that looked so much like James'.

"It's nice to meet you," Remus said before turning to Hermione, "and you must be Hermione."

Hermione stepped closer to Lily's legs but nodded.

Remus' eyes widened as he took in the girls features, "Lily, her eyes…"

Lily shifted uncomfortably, "yeah. It's uh… uncanny the resemblance right?" she said, meeting Remus' gaze before pointedly looking at the door that was still wide open. It wasn't safe to talk about it there.

"Yeah, uncanny," he muttered.

Before he could turn back to the kids and try to draw them out of their shells a large shaggy dog bounded into the room.

Lily rolled her eyes and the two kids immediately started towards the animal.

"Puppy!" Hermione cried, all hesitation leaving her at the sight of a dog (who had now rolled over onto it's back and was playfully wiggling).

Harry laughed as he and Hermione started to pat the dog, giving Remus a chance to catch his breath. Lily went and stood by her old friend, watching the three on the floor with amusement.

"Apparently, some things never change," she commented.

Remus chuckled, "did you really expect him to do anything else? He just has to make a dramatic entrance, you know that."

"Still, he needs to change back soon so that we can properly introduce him to the kids," Lily observed.

After letting the three play a bit more Lily shooed both kids back from the 'puppy' before quirking an eyebrow in his direction.

"Sirius," she demanded.

Suddenly, the dog transformed back into the man and both children gasped in surprise.

"Puppy?" Hermione asked in confusion.

"Well kids, this is your Uncle Sirius. He turns into a dog," Lily stated bluntly.

"Hey kiddos," Sirius greeted, kneeling down to their level, "wow. Look at those green eyes."

Lily internally struggled not to explain all about Hermione's necklace. She was proud of her work, damn it, but she wasn't about to put Hermione's safety in jeopardy either.

"Yeah, just like mine," Lily managed in a playful tone.

Sirius' kept talking to the kids and soon enough Remus joined in and before long all four seemed to be having a good time discussing the two children's favorite toys and pass times.

After a while, Lily could tell that the kids were getting tired and hungry so she said their goodbyes and told Sirius and Remus that she'd be back at the end of the week to take them home.

**A/N**

**Still looking for a beta reader who's willing to beta chapters previously posted and withstand my erratic updating.**

**Wish you all the best,**

**Blackcat8539**


	7. Chapter 7

Harry James Potter knew a few things for certain in his life.

The first was that he had a large, if unconventional, family that loved him.

The second was that his sister was an absolute genius.

The third was that they were never, ever, allowed outside of the manner's grounds without his mother.

It didn't matter if it was Harry, Hermione or even Uncle Remus and Uncle Sirius, without Lily no one dared leave the premises.

They all had their own reasons of course, but Harry didn't know them and he was mostly concerned about following them so that he wouldn't get in trouble.

"Come on Hermione, PLEASE," Harry begged his sister, desperately trying to get her to play outside with him.

"I'm reading Harry, go away," she replied, eyes not drifting from the pages.

Harry rolled his eyes. He should have known. There was only one way to get Hermione away from her books.

"If you come and play with me, I'll do your chores so you can read after dinner."

Hermione's eyes slowly rose from the book and meet Harry's, "fine," she answered as she snapped the book closed.

Placing it on the table beside the lounge Hermione stood and followed her brother outside. As always, the sky above was a strange orange color from the wards but neither child paid it any mind.

Hermione's gaze was torn from the sky as Harry poked her side, "catch me if you can!" he cried before sprinting away.

Hermione groaned but couldn't keep the grin off her face. After all, she was faster than him.

oOoOo

Sirius and Remus had been living with Lily for four years now. At first, they had planned on finding a place for themselves but that was before they had realized just how badly the world had deteriorated.

As the two children ran around the back-yard Sirius leaned on the railing of the balcony that connected to his room.

"You alright there, Pad's?" Remus asked as he appeared by Sirius' side.

"Yeah Moony, just peachy," Sirius muttered rather dully.

Remus looked over his friend in concern. While he hid it well, Sirius wasn't in a very healthy state of mind these days. Remus took up a place beside his friend, leaning on the rail close enough so that their shoulders just barely touched.

"You don't have to lie to me Pads," Remus reminded him.

Sirius let out a frustrated sigh, "it's just… how the fuck did it come to this Moony? How the hell did the world end up like this? My godson is growing up in a world where the sky's fucking orange and the only other kid he's ever met his own age is his sister. They're even being home-schooled because we don't even have a school anymore!" Sirius slammed a fist down onto the rough marble of the balcony, "I'm losing it, Remus. Sitting here with nothing to do, I- I-."

Sirius let out a hollow bark of a laugh.

"Come here Pads," Remus said, pulling the slightly shorter man into a hug. Physical comfort wasn't really something they did, but for once he thought the situation called for it.

"Moony, this is ridiculous," Sirius muttered but, despite his words, Remus felt a set of arms tighten around his middle.

"Of course," Remus agreed, "completely ridiculous."

oOoOo

Lily appeared out of the house's floo with a massive smile. Never mind the soot that covered her clothing or the state of her hair, she had better things to do.

"Sirius? Remus? Where are you guys?" Lily shouted as she headed upstairs.

"Up here Lils!" Remus shouted from Sirius' rooms.

Lily chuckled and practically ran into the bedroom, "We're fixing Hogwarts!" she announced excitedly.

The two remaining Marauders were out on the balcony and both turned towards her with astonished faces.

"What? How? I thought it was completely raised to the ground?" Remus asked.

Lily nodded, "it was; however, the few remaining unspeakables and I have figured out a way to fix it. It's going to take a while, like years, but," her eyes were practically glowing with hope as she spoke, "but it'll be fixed before Harry and Hermione turn eleven."

Both men broke out into amazed smiles.

"Lily!" Remus managed, "that's incredible."

Lily flushed but couldn't get rid of the grin that was stuck on her face, "it is, isn't it?"

Sirius looked between the two of them for a moment and found his own grin just as blinding.

oOoOo

Hogwarts was literately a bomb site. There was nothing but rubble that remained but at least, thanks to the unspeakables, the radiation had been cleared.

Sirius stood with Remus and a crew of ten other wizards and witches at what used to be the front gates.  
"Right," Sirius said, addressing the whole crew, "so we can't just cast a simple 'reparo' on the different sections," his statement was met with a collective chuckle from the group.

"So," Sirius continued after a moment, "we're going to have to do this from scratch. The ministry managed to dig up a very old set of plans so we've at least got a floor plan," Sirius met the gazes of his teammates who looked very overwhelmed.

"How the hell are we supposed to replicate the founder's incredible feats of magic?" someone asked from within the group.

Remus found himself speaking up, despite the fact that he didn't really want to, "if the four of them managed it an odd thousand years ago, I'm positive that the twelve of us can get pretty damn close. It's just going to take a little patience and creativity."

Sirius nodded, "too damn right. Now, let's get to work."

oOoOo

"Mum?" Hermione called as she climbed the staircase up to the second floor.

"Hermione?" her mother's voice called back, telling the young girl that she needed to head to the study.

Carefully navigating the last few steps Hermione made her way to the door and knocked, knowing that it would be locked so there was no point in trying the handle.

Suddenly, the door swung open on its own and Hermione was greeted by the sight of her mother sitting behind the large wooden desk that took up a fair portion of the room.

"Hello love, what can I do for you?" Lily asked, setting down her wand and gesturing her daughter forward.

Hermione, who felt rather out of place in such a forbidden room, walked forward cautiously.

"I wanted to ask you something," Hermione admitted, finally reaching the other side of the desk.

With a squeal, Hermione felt her feet leave the ground and the next thing she knew, she was sitting on top of the desk.

"Alright, hit me with it," Lily prompted.

"My necklace..." Hermione began, lifting a hand to fiddle with the pendant in question, "it's magical isn't it?"

Lily nodded, though her expression was a little incredulous, she wasn't quite sure how her eight/nine-year-old had figured it out so young.

Hermione let out a frustrated huff, though the roguish smile assured Lily that her daughter wasn't actually that annoyed.

"What does it do, exactly?" Hermione questioned.

A sad little smile appeared on Lily's face, "you were always so bright love. I should have known you'd figure it out sooner then I'd thought you would."

Hermione stayed silent, waiting for the answer that she knew her mother would get to eventually.

Lily took a steadying breath before confessing, "that necklace changes your eye color. It charms them green, so they look like mine and Harry's."

Hermione frowned, that didn't make a lot of sense.

"Why?" she asked.

Lily chuckled, "I was getting to that, you little monkey, let me finish."

Hermione blushed a little in embarrassment but kept her lips tightly sealed.

Despite feeling the room's wards tingle a little at the presence of a third party, Lily didn't bother worrying over it. There was only one person it could be.

Harry.

She supposed that he deserved to know as much as Hermione did.

"Hermione, sweetheart, it's because your adopted," Hermione didn't understand that word either but waited since she was sure her mother was about to explain, "when you were first born, you lived with a different mum and dad, but then they," Lily paused, "well, they died."

She really hadn't been sure about how much to tell her daughter, should she have sugar coated it? Something about angels and heaven? Lily didn't think so, Hermione was about facts and abstract concepts didn't sit well with the girl.

Hermione took a moment to process it, she wasn't entirely sure she'd understood but wanted to make sure she asked the right questions. Her mum always said that the right questions could get you anywhere in life.

"So, when that other mum and dad died," thankfully Hermione understood the idea of death already, "you started to take care of me instead?"

Lily nodded.

Hermione broke out into a smile, "you're the best, mum."

And then, Lily broke down into tears.

"Mummy?" Hermione asked, suddenly terrified she'd done something wrong, "I'm sorry! I didn't mean it!"

Lily shook her head and pulled her daughter from the desk into her lap, "you have nothing to be sorry for. I love you so much, Hermione."

Suddenly, there was a third set of arms around them, "I love you too, -mione," Harry mumbled as he squished his face into his sister's hair.

Hermione laughed, "you're so weird."

Despite being unable to see his face, Lily was sure her son rolled his eyes in response.

"Only 'cause you are."


	8. Chapter 8

 

Hermione was reading, as usual. Their library was her favorite place to be so, naturally, that's where she was when her two uncles entered the room.

"Ahh! There's our favorite niece!" exclaimed Sirius with his usual enthusiasm.

Hermione rolled her eyes as she looked up from her book and placed her bookmark, "I'm your only niece," she replied.

Sirius poked his tongue out in response and plonked down beside her on the window seat that she had long ago claimed as hers.

"Spoilsport," he protested.

"Padfoot. Stop being so dramatic," Remus reprimanded as he took one of the armchairs that made up the 'reading nook'.

Hermione glanced between her two uncles curiously, it wasn't too unusual for them to come and spend time with her but generally speaking they would leave her be if she was reading.

"Where's Harry and mum?" Hermione asked them as she tried to figure out their plan. Her uncles _always_ had a plan.

"Outside," Remus answered.

"Your mums keeping an eye on Harry as he practices with his broom," Sirius elaborated with a snicker.

Hermione couldn't help but laugh too, "she really wasn't impressed that you managed to find a broom for Harry for his birthday."

"Find!" Sirius said in mock outrage, "we didn't just 'find' it! We traveled far and wide, made despicable deals and used unsavory means to get that broom!"

Remus snorted.

"Sure," he agreed, "or maybe we just dug it out of the attic."

Sirius shrugged, "same shit different shovel."

Hermione gasped as a grin spread across her face, "swear jar!" she cried.

Sirius groaned. "That doesn't count!" he protested, "Lily's not even here!"

Hermione's smug grin remained firmly in place, "yes it does. I'll tell on you if you don't."

Before Sirius could protest further Remus jumped in, "yes well. I think we've gotten quite off topic. Don't you Pads? We actually have a good reason for interrupting your reading time, Hermione."

The girl in question turned to her other uncle with keen interest, her precious argument completely forgotten.

"Oh?" she prompted.

Sirius grinned, "indeed little kitten. You see, while we got Harry a broom for his birthday and technically, we gave you something too…"

"We actually had something much better in mind," Remus finished with a mischievous twinkle in his eye.

A grin split across Hermione's face, "and what kind of gift could it possibly be that you wouldn't let mum or Harry see you give it to me?" she asked, connecting the dots.

Sirius grinned, "oh you make such a good marauder," he said wistfully.

Hermione glanced between both of them eagerly, the secret presents her uncles gave her were the best.

Last year, they had taught her a tiny bit of wandless magic to help her trick her brother. The year before, they had given her special shoes that allowed her to walk silently.

Today? Well, who knew what they were going to give her.

"This, our dearest niece," Remus said as he pulled out what appeared to be a blank piece of parchment, "is a very special map."

Hermione took it from him cautiously, after all, some of the things they had given her in the past also had a tendency to blow up.

"What is it a map of?" she asked.

Sirius smirked, she hadn't even questioned why it was blank yet. She knew them too well already.

"It's a new and improved map of Hogwarts," Sirius told her.

Hermione's eyes widened as the larger implications hit her, "does that mean…" she asked as she looked to Remus, who was known as the more serious of the two.

Remus nodded, "that's right. We've done it," he confirmed with a massive grin, "we've managed to rebuild Hogwarts in time for you and Harry to attend like normal students."

Hermione leapt from her seat and into her uncle's arms. Remus, who had grown used to the custom by now, caught her easily.

"I get to go to school!" Hermione cried as she hugged him tight for a moment.

"Hey!" Sirius interrupted, "I helped too!"

The next second, Remus let out a large groan as an extra weight came crashing into him and Hermione.

"Sirius…" he complained.

"Oh shut it, you know you love it," Sirius grumbled.

Hermione struggled in their grasp and they all managed to untangle themselves.

"Alright, so how does it work?" Hermione asked, eagerly looking over the paper now that she had the room.

Remus smirked and opened his mouth to speak but Sirius beat him to it.

"Normally, you'd tap it with your wand and say 'mischief managed' but since you don't have one," Sirius quickly added on, "yet. We altered it a little."

Hermione watched and Padfoot reached out and tapped the parchment with a finger, "I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good."

Hermione's eyes widened as ink spread across the parchment of its own accord. Occasionally, along with the clear outline of buildings, came the appeared of footsteps belonging to people Hermione didn't know.

"Wow," she whispered as she took it all in.

"We created one very similar when we were in Hogwarts," Remus explained, "and while we would have loved to give you that one, you'll need a more up to date version to go with the, uh, enhancements we added when rebuilding."

Hermione's eyes hungrily took in the classrooms and hallways, soaking in as much as she could. Her eyes finally settled on the library and immediately they brightened.

"I'm sure I'll put it to good use," Hermione assured them.

Sirius grinned, "I hope you use it for things other than sneaking to the library after hours, like pranking your brother or pranking with your brother," Sirius amended.

Ramus sent him a look before leaning forward, "then, when you're done, all you have to do is say 'Mischief managed'."

As he spoke the (literately) magic words, he tapped the parchment again and the ink faded away.

Hermione shared a wicked grin with them both. Things were going to get very interesting at Hogwarts.

oOoOo

Harry loved flying. He knew his mother hated to watch him try the riskier moves but he just couldn't help himself. There was something amazing about the entire experience that just wouldn't let him stop.

"Harry!" his mother called.

Harry circled around and looked down from his position in the air. His mother was waving for him to come down. Quickly, perhaps too quickly for his mother's liking, Harry rocketed towards her. He managed one loop on the way, whooping loudly as he did so.

"Harry James Potter!" his mother cried as he finally landed.

Harry immediately turned sheepish, "sorry, mum."

Lily gave him a stern glare before it melted.

"Your father would have loved to watch you pull that off," she told him. A hint of sorrow in her voice that was always present when she mentioned his father.

"Really?" Harry asked, keen to learn what he could.

She smiled at him, "of course. You know your dad loved quidditch. You'd make quite the seeker."

Harry's eyes practically sparkled in the evening lights.

Lily cleared her throat, "yes well. You'll have to wait till second year to try out of course but I've heard the pitch is quite the sight."

Harry's eyes widened comically, "wait. Second year… you mean they did it? Hermione and I are going to Hogwarts?"

Lily smiled at his joy, "yes, Harry. Your uncles are telling Hermione right now. You're going to school in the fall."

Harry's eyes positively shone in the fading sunlight.

oOoOo

As Lily watched her two kids eat dinner and chat excitedly about Hogwarts she could almost feel James smile down on them from where he was now.

It had taken a lot of work to convince the wizarding world that it was safe enough to build a school again and that was after they had convinced the Muggle government that it was a harmless education system that was not a secret plot to kill them all.

Lily had never liked politics but now she was more involved with them she absolutely distasted them. Worse, were politicians. Alice was one thing, she had a reasonable head but everyone else all wanted things their way or nothing. It was positively exhausting.

Still, she could forget all of that. She could leave it all behind because once she got home to where her two children had been learning stupid but genius things from their uncles, she remembered why she was doing it all.

"So mum," Hermione said, drawing the woman's attention, "Moony said they're bringing books in from all over the world to try and re-fill the library. Do you think it'll ever be as good as the one you had while you were there?"

Lily grinned, "well, maybe, but it'll never be as good as our own private library so sadly, I think you'll be disappointed either way."

Hermione looked at her in disbelief, "no way. It's a school, how can a school's library be smaller than ours?"

Lily tilted her head, "well, the Potter family have been collecting books for a very long time. Inherently, we have a very large library."

Hermione frowned. "Will you owl me books then? While I'm at Hogwarts," she requested anxiously.

Remus laughed before answering, "Hermione. Just because the library won't be as big as ours doesn't mean it won't be big. You'll have plenty of reading material."

Hermione's frowned disappeared as she thought it over, "still, you'll send me books if I need them right?"

Remus smiled gently at her, "of course, Hermione."

Harry rolled his eyes at his sister.

"Honestly, worrying about books. I want to know if you guys added in all the fun bits!"

Sirius snorted and Remus elbowed him in response.

"What do you mean Harry?" Remus asked innocently.

"Come on! The secret passages, the moving staircases, all the fun stuff!" Harry demanded.

Sirius laughed, "oh Harry," he tutted, "What would be the fun in that? It will all be a surprise come the first of September."

Harry glared at his uncle but Lily noted that Hermione simply hid a smirk. Lily also caught a quick glance shared between her daughter and Remus.

She would have to find out what that was about later.

"Alright," Lily said, "is everybody finished?" she asked.

After she was met with affirmative nods Lily stood up, "right then, Ditsy, I'll clear."

The elf who had immediately appeared scowled at her, "Mistress will NOT."

Lily sighed as she and Ditsy both begun clearing the table.

Just as everyone stood to leave, Lily spoke out once again.

"Oh, and we'll all be heading to the brand new Diagon Ally to get Harry and Hermione their wands."

Lily was met with two excited gasps before suddenly, two small bodies slammed into her.

"Alright you two," Lily managed, hugging them both while she could, "off to bed with you."

Hermione gave her a large grin before running off, Harry not far behind.

"Well Lily, I think we're in for a few interesting months," Remus commented.

Lily raised an eyebrow at him.

"Give those two wands months before they attend Hogwarts? They're going to be even more of a handful."

Lily shrugged, "I think we can handle it. Besides, there are a few things I want to teach them before they leave."

Remus nodded, a michievious smirk playing on his face, before helping her (and obviously Ditsy) clean up the rest of the table.


End file.
